Wednesday, July 23rd: Asakusa and Kappabashi Dogu-gai Dori

Today, I headed out to see for myself the giant red lantern at Kaminarimon, the gates to the Asakusa Kannon temple. Asakusa (I think pronounced a-sak-sa) is an older part of town, the oldest entertainment district and is in the shitamachi section (on the low lying side of the Sumida River).

When I came up from the metro station, the very first thing I saw was the Flamme D'Or, a distinctive building designed by Phillipe Starck that has it's own local nickname.


As usual, I felt that for sure I would get lost and but my guidebook didn't fail me and I wound up right in front of the iconic gate.

Once inside the gates, you head right down Nakamise Dori, lined with stalls selling all sorts of souvenirs and snacks, such as an "ice cream hamburger" which seemed to be an ice cream sandwich that looked just like a little burger! There were also stalls selling fans, kimono or yukata (light summer robes worn instead of kimono), dolls, and lots of paper lanterns.

It was a riot of colors, sights, smells and sounds. There were even little Monchichi dolls for sale (Melinda, I was tempted to take one back to Boston). It seemed an odd choice for a path to a temple, and it popped you out right at the interior gates!

Through this set of gates, you come to the temple itself, and the large pot of incense, where people go to "bathe" in the healing smoke. I even wafted some over myself- it smelled wonderful. At all the temples that have incense burning, you can find people waving it over themselves generally, or over a specific problem area.


This was the first shrine where there were no "No Photo" signs, but also where people were openly taken pictures inside, and so I felt comfortable to do so as well. It was very grand, as you can see.

The Asakusa temple complex is Tokyo's oldest and it dates to 628 AD. It has a charming back story, too, involving two brothers who were fishing in the Sumida and caught a small golden statute. They threw it back, and caught it again, and then again!

The complex is also home to Japan's second highest pagoda.

After exploring the temple complex, I headed out to find Kappabashi Dou-gai Dori. This street is where Tokyo heads for everything needed to start a restaurant...including plastic food! I enjoyed walking down the street, enjoying a nutty flavored green tea (it tasted like hazelnuts!), looking into each shop with it's specific set of items for sale: industrial sinks, chopsticks and bowls, pots, or aprons and fabric goods.

I even picked us up a pair of chopsticks decorated with rabbits to go with the sushi set Stefan brought me from Mistukoshi on his last trip!

Tuesday, July 22nd: Baseball

Monday was a holiday and a travel day for us, so Tuesday was our first day back in Tokyo this week. A few weeks before we came to Tokyo, Shuji and Waka had come to Boston on business and the four of us went to a Red Sox game. Now, the four of us were going to do the same in Tokyo! We saw the Yakult Swallows and the Yokohama Bay Stars. The captain of the Japanese baseball team going to the Olympics plays for the Yakult Swallows- it is surreal to have seen him play in person, in Tokyo, before the Olympics! It was obvious he was someone special by his introductory theme song. All the players have their very own theme song, and as the home team, the Yakult Swallows players each had their song played over the loud speakers as they came to bat and had a kind of cartoon image depiction on the big screen that was topped off with a picture of their actual heads, often making funny "tough guy" faces. Both teams had a section of fans that was centered by a band devoted to each team- so even though it was an away game for Yokohama, the band played each player's song to rev them up! But for the captain of the Olympic team, the theme song and associated pictures were as slick and glossy as a commercial.



Once we settled in, Shuji introduced us to something new- Takoyaki! These are basically fried balls of octopus and are delicious. We were washing these down with beer (just like we'd wash down the hot dogs at Fenway!)- but getting a beer at a Japanese ball game is very different than in the States! Beers are served by vendors who walk the stadiums- most of these were young girls- and they are dressed in baseball uniforms where the "team" name is the beer brand. The look was more sporty than anything else- cute, not seductive. So, you have these cute girls walking around in knee socks, skirts, baseball caps and "Asahi" or "Kirin" jerseys and they serve you beer directly from the keg strapped to their back. Draft beers, served seat-side. It was great. My camera battery died before I could get a picture to show you all!

It was the first week of the school summer holiday, so there were lots of families and little boys dressed up in their baseball jerseys. It was fun to watch the kids as much as the game. At one point, the mascot started tossing balls into the stands and the little boys were so excited!



I really enjoyed the game, but most of all, sitting next to and talking to Waka. She is the very definition of sweet and has a great sense of humor. She showed me pictures of her adorable daughter, but what made me laugh was when I asked her, "Waka, how is your daughter?" and Waka rolled her eyes and said, "So Noisy!". I just cannot imagine. Waka herself is so soft spoken, but she says her daughter is chatting all the time. I hope one day I get to meet her...and hear exactly how noisy she really is!


And of course, there were cheerleaders- and a mini-brigade of little girl cheerleaders! All in all, it was so much fun and I am so glad I got to go to a Japanese Baseball game!

Sunday, July 20th: A German-style Beer Hall and Pontocho Alley

After lounging at the pool for an hour or so, it was time to for dinner! I thought the view from our room was so interesting with the clouds above and the mountains in the distance, I had to take a picture. We had decided to look for an Italian restaurant that Shuji recommended on our own- we were certain we basically knew where it was given the address.

Well, as I've mentioned before, Kyoto addresses are quite difficult to decipher, and after wandering around in the heat (yes, even at eight at night, it was still easily in the 90s and very hot), we realized it just wasn't where we thought it would be. We looked for it for about a solid half hour, but had a back up plan in place.


We had passed the Asahi Beer Hall during our search for the Italian place, and so when we couldn't find it, we went right back to it and this made for a very happy Stefan. Not only, as we were informed by the authentically German-dressed waiter, was it half price beer night, but the sausages were excellent.

After being all day and night in the heat, a big old super dry Asahi beer (or two) was just the thing! And yes, I even drank BEER! And it was good. Probably everyone knows this but me, but sausages and beer are really a good combination. And I had to learn that in Kyoto.

We were certain that we could find The Saint James Club in Pontocho Alley, though. This would be Shuji's favorite bar, and it is nestled in a tiny alleyway just parallel to the Kamo River. This alley has been an entertainment area since 1670 and it is still a hot spot today.

As we walked from dinner to the alley, we could look down onto the bank of the river where people were sitting, enjoying the breeze and watching a lady dance with fire.






And then there we were- Pontocho Alley! We started to walk down the narrow street, crowded with old ochaya-style buildings (tea houses). Stefan wasn't sure if we would find it among all the many little spots with their tiny signs as the only indication of what lay inside.

But we did find it!

It was upstairs on the second floor, and when we opened the door, we saw a tiny little dark paneled bar with only twelve seats. It had a very British feel, and we both liked it so much! We were lucky to get a seat at the bar, as by the time we had ordered our drinks, it was completely full.


It felt like a hidden speakeasy from New York in the twenties and both Stefan and I said that my Dad would have just loved it!

Yesterday, we had decided to walk all the way home from Gion after our Kaiseki dinner. But tonight, we hopped in a cab- I guess that was enough walking for one weekend!

Sunday, July 20th: Philosopher's Walk and Nanzen-ji

We woke up and decided to do the Philosopher's Walk, which is close to the hotel and runs you right past many temples. The Philosopher's Walk is so called after a philosophy professor from Kyoto who took this very walk every day. At first, we had a hard time finding it and then, miraculously, we came upon the first temple right at the start of the walk, Nanzen-ji Temple.


Our guidebook told us this was a "quintessential Zen Temple" and that in 1386, it was placed in charge of Kyoto's "Gozan", or the five great Zen temples. It is certainly imposing and grand. Above are the gates to the temple, two stories high, and Stefan particularly liked the tidbit about the gates being a hideout for an outlaw hero who was later boiled alive in a cauldron. Men.

We were able to see the public portion of the abbot's quarters, called Hojo, but not allowed to take picture indoors. We were able to take photos of the Zen gardens, like the one designed by a famous Zen gardener from the sixteen hundreds, who carefully chose these rocks to look like tigers coming to drink at a lake.

There were plenty of pretty gardens as you walked along the outer edges of the Hojo (in your bare feet, of course!) and it was so tranquil.

To be honest, it was also easily 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and if the Saturday was hot but rather dry, then today was exactly what everyone had told us to expect....extreme heat and humidity. But we kept on hiking on the Philosopher's walk toward the Silver Pavilion. I didn't take many pictures because we were literally drinking something the entire walk to stay hydrated and try and stay cool! We went through tons of Pocari Sweat (for me) and Aquarius Zero (for S) which are kind of like Gatorade. But they don't come in twenty different flavors and aren't quite so sweet.

We did see a small flock of ducks swimming in the stream, and I did capture them. Everyone had stopped to watch them for a bit- it was a nice break half way up the walk.



The walk itself was so pretty- winding along with a little stream lined with trees and overhanging trees.

When we got to the Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion), it was completely....covered in scaffolding. Harumph. Additionally, it was packed. We flew through the gardens and then started the long walk home to hit the pool. I know, we've been better sightseers!

There was a nice display of all the different types of mosses around, and we both had a laugh at the below sign (you might have to enlarge the picture to read it yourself): Very Important Moss (Like VIP):

Saturday, July 19th: Mini-Kaiseki Dinner

And so we were off to a traditional Kaiseki- style dinner (a Mini-Kaiseki) at Mamezara Kaiseki Mametora. A work colleague of Stefan's, Shuji, was so helpful in making many recommendations for our trip to Kyoto, had given us the name and number for this tea house turned Kaiseki restaurant and we were so lucky to be able to get in! We are both so grateful to Shuji for all his help with our trip to Kyoto, and this dinner was absolutely the highlight of the trip.

And we were very lucky to find it and that it was Kaiseki style- many little courses in a preset menu- since no one spoke any English at this very authentic spot! We had trouble ordering water, even. And you can see that without detailed instructions for the cab driver, we'd have never found it ourselves. Kyoto has a totally different address system than both Tokyo and the US. Instead of street numbers, if I understood it correctly, they use cross streets and north/south/east/west designations for where on that segment of the street the building lies. So anyone not from Kyoto has a hard time getting around!

We walked into the entry and were instructed (via miming) to take off our shoes and leave them there. The restaurant itself had a tatami mat floor covering, and so as is traditional, you go barefoot. Tatami mats are really soft and silky feeling, so it's quite nice!

We were seated at a bar area looking into a private courtyard. Most tea houses have small interior courtyards and the view into it was quite amazing! It was tiny but very well executed and looking at it was very calming and peaceful. The light in the restaurant was dim, and despite it being packed (all but one of the twenty two seats taken), very quiet.


Our place setting was so charming, I had to take a picture before the food arrived.

All of our courses were served inside the little tray.

So, I think this will be a heavy on pictures, light on writing entry! It was such a quiet, peaceful, delicious, romantic experience and Stefan and I felt so amazed to be there. I just want to imprint the night onto my soul and never forget how it felt to sit in an old tea house, looking at a zen garden, having a truly traditional, authentic Kaiseki meal. Every course was like a little present- and we had no idea what was coming or what things were, but everything was delicious. The waitresses (there were only two, both in kimono, and Stefan thinks perhaps they were a mother/daughter team) dutifully explained in Japanese each time what the courses were, even though we all knew we didn't understand. Still, it was part of the ceremony of the meal, and I think that is one of the things that was so special about it- it felt religious almost, reverential. Well, I surreptitiously took flash-free pictures of every course, and so you can see how the presentation made it very much a ceremony and not just food!

The first course was a kind of chilled soup- it had a jelly-like orb floating in the middle (lots of jellies in Japanese food).



Once you scooped into the orb, then the bowl filled with purple red bean paste!

The second course was an elegant arrangement of some sort of eggplant surrounded by little bites- some of which I am not quite sure what they were!

For instance, this some what gelatinous mix with capers and what I think is a little bit of seaweed.

A delicious lime-y bite of fish:

And we weren't sure at all what this was, but it had a nice mapley taste to it!


The Third Course was more fish based:


And the highlight was definitely what we think was a sea scallop- it was so rich and creamy.


And there was a piece of fish with a quail egg:


And some fatty tuna:


The next course is something you might recognize as similar to an earlier picture (although I don't think these were those selfsame fish).


These are grilled river fishes with a sauce that I couldn't discern because the grilled fish was so good. They also were cooked in such a way that they appeared to be still alive! Like they could wiggle and jump off your plate and swim away, I thought.



We ate the entire fish, head and all.


And S and I both agree that the head had a kind of funny, bitter taste. My favorite part was actually the tail- it was super crunchy!

Proof that we ate the whole thing as we were supposed to:

Next up was the mini-sushi (Mame-zushi):


We both loved the clever shrimp- the tail came right out and was just really decoration, not attached at all!


We weren't sure what was written here, but the presentation was elegant:


All the presentations were so pretty and dainty:


Stefan was sweet enough to unwrap the banana leaf sushi and let me capture it on film!



And I was sure this was tuna, but it was a radish or some sort of vegetable!

Thankfully, we had the set course menu because the a la carte menu would have done us no good.....
Dessert was a green tea coated pudding (mochi) with a red bean paste flavor:



Served with a little tea:


And it was rather hard to eat!




We had a super time but clearly the excitement was too much for me, since in lieu of a picture of us, I have a wonky video.





Thankfully, I got a nice picture of handsome Stefan outside!

It was the perfect ending to a great dream-come-true day in Kyoto.

Saturday, July 19th: Finally, Kyoto!

I woke up on Saturday morning, bursting with energy and yanked back the curtains to see out the window for my first real glimpse of Kyoto. I was not disappointed and Kyoto is every bit as magical and beautiful as they say.


Before we had left, Hiroko and Mayumi had warned us that Kyoto would be very hot- much more so than Tokyo, due to the fact that it is surrounded on all sides by mountains, and doesn't get much of a breeze. (In fact, they both separately described exactly the same way at separate times, and exactly as I have above.) Kyoto's climate is interesting in that way- it is much hotter than Tokyo in summer and much colder in the winter. But the lush mountains make for such a stunning view!

Basically, we could have packed up right then and I still would have had the time of my life, just looking out the window. But we headed out the door to look for breakfast on our way to Gion.

On the way, we saw lots of Torii Gates heading away from the street, either up hill or down, to various temples. We didn't make it to the one pictured below, but you could see it from the room and I thought it was so pretty in the way it stood out from the houses and greenery.

We passed a few coffee shops on the way, but they were tiny and looked a little imposing, so despite the fact that Stefan wanted a real breakfast, we wound up at a Lawson's again- which was fine by me and had the bonus of having some outdoor seats where we could watch Kyoto stroll and drive by!

I took pictures of our convenience store meal since it is typical of what we usually eat for lunch and also SO GOOD! As you can see, I am having two rice balls- one even has ikura in it (salmon roe), which I love so much.


The noodles come with a mix-it-yourself sauce- this one has some sort of savory sauce to which you can add little scallions and ginger (I do) and sesame seeds (that I don't). Then you just dip the noodles in your sauce and eat away! I have almost managed to learn how to do noodles with chopsticks, and I am drinking a typical girl drink: Jasmine tea!

They have other noodles on offer, including one that appears to have a raw quail egg, but I haven't tried those yet. Cold noodles are so good on a hot day- and it was definitely hot, but not quite so humid as I expected- and they don't make you feel terribly heavy or full, which is good if you plan on walking all day!

The best part of our breakfast was doing some people watching. Lots of little boys in baseball uniforms were walking home, with their sports bags thrown over their shoulders. Just groups and groups of them kept passing us by, or stopping in for something to drink before heading on their way again. One little boy was giving me a wide eyed stare (I am sure because at that point, I was sitting outside by myself), and so I smiled at him. He stiffened up and turned around to hurry off, then thought the better of it, stopped, turned around and gave me a little bow. It was so sweet and charming. I think he didn't know that I saw him looking at me with my glasses on. (Melinda, you *might* recognize those particular sunglasses. Do you think they're big enough?)

Then, we were off to Gion!

Some parts of Gion are more "modern" and this is one of the spots where you can find nightlife in the forms of clubs or bars in Kyoto. We entered Gion through this part of the neighborhood (and you can see the sign that says "Kyoto Gion"). In a way, even the nightclubs honor Gion's past- as a home to many of the tea houses where geisha entertain, it has always been a center of nightlife!

Also, you can see the signs advertising different clubs and/or restaurants on the side of each building, one on top of the other in a long column.

Shortly, though, you wind up in an older, more refined Gion and this is what I have been longing to see! I was so happy to be here and to see real tea houses with my own eyes. The tea houses all looked very private with only doors and walls or windows shaded by screens facing the streets. I think many have interior courtyards. Of course, it would have been unthinkable to have anyone walking by be able to see who was being entertained and by whom. I think tea houses functioned a little bit like a private club in that you could really relax there and not worry that just anyone could find you out.

It was a really beautiful walk through Gion, with little streets passing by streams framed by what I think are willow trees, and peeking down the tiny side alleys- narrow little streets filled with more tiny restaurants and tea houses.





















We also walked by a rack of little fish set out to dry. I don't know what compelled me to take a picture, just that it was nothing I'd ever seen before and it caught my eye. We figured they must be drying to be eaten later...and so take a good look, because we were definitely right about that!

Then we popped out of Gion onto a larger street, Shijo-Dori, at the base of which sits Yasaka Shrine.


Yasaka Shrine's deities protect from illness, and we did get to see a few people ringing the bells. S tells me that ringing the bells summons the spirits and your ancestors. I took a video because the effect is so much more when you can hear the bells yourself.




Then it was back into Gion, past the famous Ichiriki Teahouse, which plays a role in Memoirs of a Geisha (which I reread- for about the tenth time- expressly before we came to Kyoto to help me get even more excited).
This part of Gion is a historically preserved zone, and is extremely clean and well maintained. There was even a sign stating that if you littered, you would be fined $30,000 yen regardless of your status or nationality. (Ahem.) Walking through this part of Gion, you feel as though you have stepped back in time, or if you are me, stepped right into the pages of one of my favorite books. Stefan thought it would be charming to take a video of me walking through the streets of Gion, and it is so cute, although perhaps it might be more so if I wasn't hidden behind another couple. I guess I fail at acting. However, I present it to you here- can you believe how peaceful and quiet it is?




So, you can see we did a little bit of shopping, but I can't tell you what it is- it's a little something for Mom straight from Gion!

We even saw a geisha. I think she is an apprentice geisha, based on the red showing in her bun (called a maiko in Japanese). If I recall correctly, only apprentice geisha wear the red. (Stefan likes to tease me because he knows how excited I am to see a real geisha, and so every woman who walks by in kimono, he nudges me and says, "Look! A Geisha!". Well, lots of women wear kimono out- more than I expected would- but only geishas have these elaborate hair styles and the dramatic white makeup. We had a few false alarms.) I took a picture of her from the back, mainly because I couldn't bear to just take a picture of her so brazenly in the face! Still, she was hauntingly beautiful and elegant- and this I think even her back portrays.

I think we were lucky to see a geisha out and about in the afternoon heat! Because, although it was much drier than Tokyo, it was very, very hot.

We only saw her because we paused in a side street to visit a vending machine...


We're both very grateful at the way vending machines are everywhere.

We also walked past the Minamiza, a well known theater where Kabuki and traditional dances by geisha were performed. This was also on my own private "Memoirs of a Geisha" tour of Kyoto.



Right across from the Minamiza, we boarded the subway for Nijo Castle.



There is a large outer wall where the Ninomaru complex sits. They don't allow pictures in this formal reception hall, but I did take a photo of the description if you care to read it.


Inside, there were beautifully painted screens depicting tigers and leopards, and some that depict cherry trees. They had a room set up with mannequins so you could have an idea of what it was like when the feudal lords (daimyo) came to pay a visit. What was most interesting about this room, to me, was the almost hidden doors in the wall, distinguished by only red tassels for handles. Apparently, the shogun's bodyguards would wait in a little room behind the doors in case they were needed. Another fascinating feature was the nightingale floors. First, we had to remove our shoes to even enter the palace. So, you walk barefoot along the hallways but you can hear as you walk these tiny squeaks- it sounds like little birds. That would be the security system from the late sixteenth century. The floors were designed to give a little bit as you walked, so that the nails and clamps below the floorboards would rub against each other and squeak or chirp a little so that no one could sneak in at night.

Outside, past the interior walls (below)...

...you were able to walk around the gardens surrounding the castle buildings and see the outside of the castle.


There was also a Zen rock garden, which was so peaceful to look at and walk through, even as tired as we were. I had read that these types of gardens are designed to give you a new view with each step, and now know what they mean. I've included one view, but if anyone would like the other two pictures I took, I'll post all three on facebook, rather than subject you all to every picture of everything.



And finally, after a wonderfully long day of sightseeing, we were ready to head home and check out the garden at the pool, designed by "the greatest garden designer of this century", Jihei Ogawa. Apparently, using water in motion was one of his signatures, and so I leave you with this last picture of the waterfall in the hotel's own special garden.

Time to freshen up before Kaiseki dinner!